Members of the Clean Shipping Alliance (CSA) 2020 are advising those shipowners looking to install marine exhaust gas cleaning systems as way of meeting global sulphur cap requirements to ensure that manufacturers, shipyards and installers are using quality, high-end materials.
Based on the collective experience gained from more than 1500 EGCS installations, CSA 2020 members found the quality of materials and coatings used is the most important factor in optimising EGCS safety and averting any corrosion problems during operation.
Echoing Spliethoff’s experience is Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a shipowner operating a fleet of more than 130 deep sea ro-ro vessels.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen installed its first EGCS in 2014 knowing that, like any first-of-type-installation, there would be the inevitable teething troubles.
Over 200 exhaust gas cleaning systems aboard 83 ships operating under the Carnival Corporation umbrella have also been largely reliable, with Mike Kaczmarek, Sr. Vice-President Marine Technology, Carnival Corp, citing over 90% current system availability.
Grimaldi Group, which operates four different EGCS over 50 ships and also reports more than 90% reliability, also flags up the bellows as requiring special attention.
In November, Danish ferry operator DFDS reported that the downtime experienced with the EGCS installed onboard the 37,939gt roro Ficaria Seaways was less than 0.002% during the 12-month period to 1st July 2019.
ABOUT CSA 2020
The Clean Shipping Alliance 2020 (CSA 2020) represents large group of leading companies from the commercial and passenger shipping industries that have been leaders in emission control efforts through significant investments in research and analysis, funding and committing resources to comply with 2020 fuel requirements through the development and use of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS). The Alliance was formed in September 2018 with a mission to provide information and research data to better inform industry and the wider public. In addition to serving as an advocate for companies working to reduce marine exhaust gas emissions, CSA 2020 will support the scheduled implementation and effective enforcement of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) requirement for a 0.5 percent global sulphur cap on fuel content as of January 1, 2020. CSA 2020 currently has 39 member shipowners representing all shipping sectors and operating, collectively, more than 3,000 vessels.